Screen



July 13, 1948. WQRTHMAN' 2,445,164

scam-m Filed 001:. 24, 1946 INVENTOR. Irv/i1? fi arikmazz/ BY attorney Patented July 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SCREEN Irving Worthman, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application October 24, 1946, Serial No. 705,415

This invention relates to screens, and more particularly to those of the folding type and so constructed as to provide the facilities of a clothes tree, a dressing table, and a set of shelves and racks.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a screen constructed so'that it may be compactly folded when not in use; which will be provided at its rear with a plurality of supports, such as used for clothing, shelves for holding toilet articles, a mirror, and possibly other useful articles or devices, all of which are foldably arranged so that the same will fit within recesses provided in the back face of the screen whereby the screen may be readily folded or collapsed in the conventional manner when the screen is to be stored. The invention further contemplates the provision of supporting elements as above described, arranged at the back of the screen and adapted to be placed into operative position by being pivotally swung out of their recesses at times when the screen is extended into operative position, the screen and the co-operating elements above described, then serving to provide the facilities of a dressing room, make-up table, clothes tree and the like.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a screen having a plurality of hingedly connected panel sections, said panel sections being foldable to overlying position in the known manner of folding screens; the rear face of the panels being provided with recesses within which is pivotally mounted shelves, clothing hangers, a shoe rack and the like, and the center panel of the screen being mirrored. The arrangement is such that when the screen is extended to operative position, and the various foldable supports are extended out of the recesses, the screen then not only performs its screening function, but additionally serves as a clothes tree, make-up table or other attractive and useful bedroom or boudoir article of furniture.

These and other objects are attained by the invention, a more particular description of which will hereinafter appear and be set forth in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved screen, showing the same in operative position and in readiness to serve as a dressing table, and the like; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the screen, showing the same in partly folded position.

6 Claims. (Cl. -127) Referring to the drawing, l indicates the central panel section of a three-panel folding screen. One of the end pannels is indicated at 2 and the other end panel at 3. These panels are conventionally hinged together in the known manner of screens of this type, and indicated by the hinges shown at 20 and 2| in Fig. 3. The hinges are'of such construction that they permit the three panels of the screen to be folded or collapsed upon one another in the manner well known in screen construction. The partly folded screen is disclosed in Fig. 3.

The panel sections of the screens may be con structed in any of the accepted ways, such as by the use of a wooden frame covered on both sides by suitable fabric, leather or other sheet material. In the drawing, portions of the frame are shown at 22, the outer covering at 23and the inner covering at 24. The screen may, of course, be constructed in a number of other ways.

In the rear face of the panel 2 is provided recesses 5 and 8. That indicated at 8 accommodates a rack 5, having its side arms pivoted at 1, in the walls of the recess 5. This arrangement is such that when the screen is in its open position, as shown in Fig. 1, the rack 6 may be pivotally swung outwardly to extended or operative position and it can then be used for supporting garments or any other desired articles. When the screen is to be folded, the rack is swung upon its pivots I to position it within the recess 5 so as not to interfere with the folding of the screen panels one upon the other.

The rack 9 may be similar to that shown at 8, and it is pivoted at H], so that it may be swung either out of or into the recess 8 in the manner explained with respect to the rack 6.

The end panel section 3 is formed in its rear face with the recesses II and I2, each of which is provided with a swinging garment hanger l3,

these hangers being capable of swinging move-' ment either into or out of their recesses H and i2 to place them either into operative position or inoperative positions. Panel section 2 is provided with a recess 14 in which a shelf I5 is pivoted, said shelf having side arms I6 pivoted at H, to the sides of the recess l4. This shelf 15 can be swung to its extended and article-supporting position when the screen is opened, or it can be pivoted to lie within the recess in the manner described with respect to the racks 6 and 9.

At I8 is shown a recess provided in panel section 3, the same receiving a second pivoted shelf as indicated at 19, said shelf being pivoted in the manner described with respect to shelf l5. Below the shelf 89 is another recess as indicated at 2%, the same receiving a shoe rack 25, pivoted at 21 in recess 26.

The central panel of the screen is provided with a mirror 4, the same being preferably set in a recess or otherwise mounted in the body of the panel so that its surface is flush with the inner face of the panel.

It will be apparent from the foregoing, that a construction is. provided by means of which the functions and facilities of the conventional folding screen are immeasurably increased. The screen, when folded to open position, can perform its usual screening function, and when the several supporting elements, namely, the racks 6 and 3, the shelves i and I9, shoe rack 25 and garment hangers [3 are swung to horizontal or extended positions out of their recesses, as shown in Fig. 1, the screen is then useful as a clothes tree, a support for toiletries and a make-up table. While capable of use in the manner described, the screen when folded, by first swinging the various supports 6, 9, l3, l5, I9 and 25 into their recesses and then collapsing the several panels of the screen upon themselves as in Fig. 3, will occupy no more storage space than the conventional screen.

While I have shown and described an embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the arrangement of the various shelves, racks, hangers etc. as well as the shapes and sizes of the same, may be changed to suit various screen designs or the wishes of the individual user. ihe form of mirror employed, and its location on the screen may also be varied, and many other modifications may be made as will be understood by those skilled in this art.

What I claim is:

1. A screen having a plurality of hingedly connected panel sections, at least some of said panel sections being provided with recesses in their rear face, supports hinged in said recesses and adapted. to be swung to extended positions out of the recesses when the screen is in its open position, said supports being swingable into said recesses to thereby enable the panel sections to be swung into overlying relation.

2. A folding screen composed of a plurality of hingedly connected panel sections, the rear faces of said panel sections being provided with garment-supporting elements and shelves for supporting toilet articles.

3. A folding screen composed of a plurality of hingedly connected panels, one of said panels being provided with a plurality of garment-supports pivoted to said panels, and a second panel being provided with a plurality of shelves, the shelves being pivotally attached to the panel on which they are mounted.

4. A folding screen of the character described in claim 3, wherein the garment supports are pivoted in recesses in one of the panels, and the shelves are pivoted in recesses in a second panel,

and a mirror is located on the back of a panel located between those on which the garment supports and the shelves are secured.

5. A folding screen comprising three panels hinged together, certain of said panels being provided with a plurality of recesses at their rear, shelves pivotally secured in some of the recesses, said shelves being foldable into and out of the associated recesses, garment supports hinged in some of the other recesses and being foldable into and out of the associated recesses, the shelves and garment supports, when folded into the recesses lying within the thickness of the panels, whereby the panels can thenbe folded into overlying relation without interference from the shelves and garment supports.

6. A folding screen having hinged panel sections foldalble into overlying relation, hinged supports at the back of the panels, and recesses in the back of the panels into which said supports are swingable when it is desired to collapse the screen into folded position.

IRVING WORTI-IlWAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number Name Date 1,703,157 Lima, Feb. 26', 1929 1,712,858 Tsuchii May 14, 1929 2,010,472 LAngeI Aug. 6, 1935 2,274,047 Derman Feb. 24, 1942 

